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FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE 
TRENCHES 

THE  WAR  STORY  OF  A  YCOUNIST 


FRTTZ  KREISLER 


jCT 


With  Illusiralions 


BOSTON   AND    NEW    YORK. 

HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN    COMPANY 

1915 


COPYRIGHT,  I915,  BY  FRITZ  KREISLZK 
AIX  RIGHTS  RSSERVED 

Fkblisktd  April  iqis 


TO  MY  DEAR  WIFE 
HARRIET 

THE   BEST   FRIEND 

AND    STANCHEST    COMRADE   IN   ALL 

CIRCUMSTANCES    OF   LIFE 

I    DEDICATE    THIS    LITTLE    BOOK 

IN   HUMBLE   TOKEN 

OF  EVERLASTING   GRATITUDE 

AND  DEVOTION 


PREFACE 

This  brief  record  of  the  fighting  on  the 
Eastern  front  in  the  great  war  is  the  out- 
come of  a  fortunate  meeting. 

The  writer  chanced  to  be  dining  with 
Mr.  Kreisler  soon  after  his  arrival  in  this 
country,  after  his  dismissal  from  the 
hospital  where  he  recovered  from  his 
wound.  For  nearly  two  hours  he  list- 
ened, thrilled  and  moved,  to  the  great 
violinist's  modest,  vivid  narrative  of  his 
experiences  and  adventures.  It  seemed 
in  the  highest  degree  desirable  that  the 
American  public  should  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  reading  this  narrative  from  the 
pen  of  one  in  whose  art  so  many  of  us 
take  a  profound  interest.  It  also  was 
apparent  that  since  so  little  of  an  au- 
thentic nature  had  been  heard  from  the 
Russo-Austrian   field   of  warfare,   this 


PREFACE 

story  would  prove  an  important  contri- 
bution to  the  contemporary  history  of 
the  war. 

After  much  persuasion,  Mr.  Kreisler 
reluctantly  acceded  to  the  suggestion 
that  he  write  out  his  personal  memories 
of  the  war  for  publication.  He  has  com- 
pleted his  narrative  in  the  midst  of  grave 
difficulties,  writing  it  piecemeal  in  hotels 
and  railway  trains  in  the  course  of  a  con- 
cert tour  through  the  country.  It  is 
offered  by  the  publishers  to  the  public 
with  confidence  that  it  will  be  found  one 
of  the  most  absorbing  and  informing 
narratives  of  the  war  that  has  yet  ap- 
peared. 

F.  G. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FaiTZ  Kreisler Frontispiece 

Fritz  Kreisler  as  an  Officer  of  the  Austrian 
Reserve  and  his  Wife  as  Nurse    ....      6 

Group  of  Officers  and  their  Wives  taken  at 
Leoben  before   Departure  for  the  Front    la 

Concert  given  at  Leoben  in  aid  of  Red  Gross 
before  Departure  for  Front a8 

Officers,  Surgeon,  and  Non-commissioned  Of- 
ficers of  Kreisler's  Gompant 4o 

Kreisler's  Battalion  taking  Oath  at  Leobbn    54 

Kreisler  at  the   Front,  taken  after  Three 
Weeks'  Service 66 

Fritz  Kreisler 8a 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE 
TRENCHES 

I 

In  trying  to  recall  my  impressions  dur- 
ing my  short  war  duty  as  an  officer  in  the 
Austrian  Army,  I  find  that  my  recollec- 
tions of  this  period  are  very  uneven  and 
confused.  Some  of  the  experiences  stand 
out  with  absolute  clearness;  others,  how- 
ever, are  blurred.  Two  or  three  events 
which  took  place  in  different  localities 
seem  merged  into  one,  while  in  other 
instances  recollection  of  the  chronologi- 
cal order  of  things  is  missing.  This  curi- 
ous indifference  of  the  memory  to  values 
of  time  and  space  may  be  due  to  the 
extraordinary  physical  and  mental  stress 
under  which  the  impressions  I  am  trying 
to  chronicle  were  received.    The  same 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

state  of  mind  I  find  is  rather  charac- 
teristic of  most  people  I  have  met  who 
were  in  the  war.  It  should  not  be  forgot- 
ten, too,  that  the  gigantic  upheaval 
which  changed  the  fundamental  condi- 
tion of  life  overnight  and  threatened 
the  very  existence  of  nations  naturally 
dwarfed  the  individual  into  nothingness, 
and  the  existing  interest  in  the  common 
welfare  left  practically  no  room  for  per- 
sonal considerations.  Then  again,  at  the 
front,  the  extreme  uncertainty  of  the 
morrow  tended  to  lessen  the  interest  in 
the  details  of  to-day;  consequently  I 
may  have  missed  a  great  many  interest- 
ing happenings  alongside  of  me  which  I 
would  have  wanted  to  note  under  other 
circumstances.  One  gets  into  a  strange 
psychological,  almost  hypnotic,  state  of 
mind  while  on  the  firing  fine  which  prob- 
ably prevents  the  mind's  eye  from  ob- 
serving and  noticing  things  in  a  normal 
way.  This  accounts,  perhaps,  for  some 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

blank  spaces  in  my  memory.  Besides, 
I  went  out  completely  resigned  to  my 
fate,  without  much  thought  for  the  fu- 
ture. It  never  occurred  to  me  that  I 
might  ever  want  to  write  my  experi- 
ences, and  consequently  I  failed  to  take 
notes  or  to  establish  certain  mnemo- 
technical  landmarks  by  the  aid  of  which 
I  might  now  be  able  to  reconstruct  all 
details.  I  am,  therefore,  reduced  to  pre- 
sent an  incoherent  and  rather  piecemeal 
narrative  of  such  episodes  as  forcibly 
impressed  themselves  upon  my  mind 
and  left  an  ineradicable  mark  upon  my 
memory. 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  found  my 
wife  and  me  in  Switzerland,  where  we 
were  taking  a  cure.  On  the  31st  of  July, 
on  opening  the  paper,  I  read  that  the 
Third  Army  Corps,  to  which  my  regiment 
(which  is  stationed  in  Graz)  belonged, 
had  received  an  order  for  mobilization. 

3 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

Although  I  had  resigned  my  commission 
as  an  officer  two  years  before,  I  immedi- 
ately left  Switzerland,  accompanied  by 
my  wife,  in  order  to  report  for  duty. 
As  it  happened,  a  wire  reached  me  a  day 
later  calHng  me  to  the  colors. 

We  went  by  way  of  Munich.  It  was  the 
first  day  of  the  declaration  of  the  state 
of  war  in  Germany.  Intense  excitement 
prevailed.  In  Munich  all  traffic  was 
stopped;  no  trains  were  running  except 
for  military  purposes.  It  was  only  due 
to  the  fact  that  I  revealed  my  intention 
of  rejoining  my  regiment  in  Austria  that 
I  was  able  to  pass  through  at  all,  but 
by  both  the  civil  and  military  authori- 
ties in  Bavaria  I  was  shown  the  great- 
est posssible  consideration  and  passed 
through  as  soon  as  possible. 

We  reached  Vienna  on  August  first. 
A  starthng  change  had  come  over  the 
city  since  I  had  left  it  only  a  few  weeks 
before.     Feverish   activity   everywhere 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

prevailed.  Reservists  streamed  in  by 
thousands  from  all  parts  of  the  country 
to  report  at  headquarters.  Autos  filled 
with  officers  whizzed  past.  Dense  crowds 
surged  up  and  down  the  streets.  Bulle- 
tins and  extra  editions  of  newspapers 
passed  from  hand  to  hand.  Immediately 
it  was  evident  what  a  great  leveler  war 
is.  Differences  in  rank  and  social  dis- 
tinctions had  practically  ceased.  All 
barriers  seemed  to  have  fallen;  every- 
body addressed  everybody  else. 

I  saw  the  crowds  stop  officers  of  high 
rank  and  well-known  members  of  the 
aristocracy  and  clergy,  also  state  officials 
and  court  functionaries  of  high  rank,  in 
quest  of  information,  which  was  im- 
parted cheerfully  and  patiently.  The 
imperial  princes  could  frequently  be 
seen  on  the  Ring  Strasse  surrounded 
by  cheering  crowds  or  mingling  with 
the  public  unceremoniously  at  the  cafes, 
talking  to'  everybody.    Of  course,  the 

5 


POUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

army  was  idolized.  Wherever  the  troops 
marched  the  public  broke  into  cheers 
and  every  uniform  was  the  center  of  an 
ovation. 

While  coming  from  the  station  I  saw 
two  young  reservists,  to  all  appearances 
brothers,  as  they  hurried  to  the  bar- 
racks, carrying  their  small  belongings  in 
a  valise.  Along  with  them  walked  a 
little  old  lady  crying,  presumably  their 
mother.  They  passed  a  general  in  full 
uniform.  Up  went  their  hands  to  their 
caps  in  military  salute,  whereupon  the 
old  general  threw  his  arms  wide  open 
and  embraced  them  both,  saying:  "Go 
on,  my  boys,  do  your  duty  bravely  and 
stand  firm  for  your  emperor  and  your 
country.  God  willing,  you  will  come 
back  to  your  old  mother."  The  old  lady 
smiled  through  her  tears.  A  shout  went 
up,  and  the  crowds  surrounding  the  gen- 
eral cheered  him.  Long  after  I  had  left 
I  could  hear  them  shouting. 


FRITZ   KREISLER   AS  AN   OFFICER   OF  THE   AUSTRIAN   RESERVE 
AND   HIS  WIFE   AS  NURSE 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

A  few  streets  farther  on  I  saw  in  an 
open  cafe  a  young  couple,  a  reservist  in 
field  uniform  and  a  young  girl,  his  bride 
or  sweetheart.  They  sat  there,  hands 
linked,  utterly  oblivious  of  their  sur- 
roundings and  of  the  world  at  large. 
When  somebody  in  the  crowd  espied 
them,  a  great  shout  went  up,  the  public 
rushing  to  the  table  and  surrounding 
them,  then  breaking  into  applause  and 
waving  hats  and  handkerchiefs.  At 
first  the  young  couple  seemed  to  be  ut- 
terly taken  aback  and  only  slowly  did 
they  realize  that  the  ovation  was  meant 
for  them.  They  seemed  confused,  the 
young  girl  blushing  and  hiding  her  face 
in  her  hands,  the  young  man  rising  to  his 
feet,  saluting  and  bowing.  More  cheers 
and  applause.  He  opened  his  mouth  as 
if  wanting  to  speak.  There  was  a  sudden 
silence.  He  was  vainly  strugghng  for  ex- 
pression, but  then  his  face  lit  up  as  if  by 
inspiration.  Standing  erect,  hand  at  his 

7 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

cap,  in  a  pose  of  military  salute,  he  in- 
toned the  Austrian  national  hymn.  In 
a  second  every  head  in  that  throng  was 
bared.  All  traffic  suddenly  stopped, 
everybody,  passengers  as  well  as  con- 
ductors of  the  cars,  joining in;the  anthem. 
The  neighboring  windows  soon  filled 
with  people,  and  soon  it  was  a  chorus  of 
thousands  of  voices.  The  volume  of  tone 
and  the  intensity  of  feeling  seemed  to 
raise  the  inspiring  anthem  to  the  utter- 
most heights  of  subUme  majesty.  We 
were  then  on  our  way  to  the  station,  and 
long  afterwards  we  could  hear  the  sing- 
ing, swelhng  like  a  human  organ. 

What  impressed  me  particularly  in 
Vienna  was  the  strict  order  everywhere. 
No  mob  disturbances  of  any  kind,  in 
spite  of  the  greatly  increased  liberty  and 
relaxation  of  police  regulations.  Nor 
was  there  any  runaway  chauvinism 
noticeable,  aside  from  the  occasional 
singing  of  patriotic  songs  and  demon- 

8 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

strations  like  the  one  I  just  described. 
The  keynote  of  popular  feeling  was 
quiet  dignity,  joined  to  determination, 
with  an  undercurrent  of  solemn  gravity 
and  responsibility. 

I  had  stopped  in  Vienna  only  long 
enough  to  bid  good-bye  to  my  father,  and 
left  for  the  headquarters  of  my  regiment 
in  Graz.  I  reported  there  for  duty  and 
then  went  to  join  the  Fourth  Battalion, 
which  was  stationed  at  Leoben,  one 
hour  away  from  Graz,  my  orders  being 
to  take  command  of  the  first  platoon  in 
the  sixteenth  company.  My  platoon 
consisted  of  fifty-five  men,  two  buglers, 
and  an  ambulance  patrol  of  four. 

In  Leoben  my  wife  and  I  remained  a 
week,  which  was  spent  in  organizing, 
equipping,  requisitioning,  recruiting,  and 
preliminary  drilling.  These  were  happy 
days,  as  we  officers  met  for  the  first 
time,  friendships  and  bonds  being  sealed 
which  subsequently  were  tested  in  com- 

0 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

mon  danger  and  amidst  privation  and 
stress.  Many  of  the  officers  had  brought 
their  wives  and  soon  dehghtful  inter- 
course, utterly  free  from  formaUty,  de- 
veloped, without  any  regard  or  refer- 
ence to  rank,  wealth,  or  station  in  private 
life.  Among  the  reserve  officers  of  my 
battalion  were  a  famous  sculptor,  a  well- 
known  philologist,  two  university  pro- 
fessors (one  of  mathematics,  the  other  of 
natural  science),  a  prince,  and  a  civil  en- 
gineer at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest 
Austrian  steel  corporations.  The  sur- 
geon of  our  battalion  was  the  head  of  a 
great  medical  institution  and  a  man  of 
international  fame.  Among  my  men  in 
the  platoon  were  a  painter,  two  college 
professors,  a  singer  of  repute,  a  banker, 
and  a  post  official  of  high  rank.  But  no- 
body cared  and  in  fact  I  myself  did  not 
know  until  much  later  what  distin- 
guished men  were  in  my  platoon.  A 
great  cloak  of  brotherhood  seemed  to 

10 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

have  enveloped  everybody  and  every- 
thing, even  differences  in  mihtary  rank 
not  being  so  obvious  at  this  time,  for  the 
officers  made  friends  of  their  men,  and 
in  turn  were  worshiped  by  them. 

My  wife  volunteered  her  services  as 
Red  Cross  nurse,  insisting  upon  being 
sent  to  the  front,  in  order  to  be  as  near 
me  as  could  be,  but  it  developed  later 
that  no  nurse  was  allowed  to  go  farther 
than  the  large  troop  hospitals  far  in  the 
rear  of  the  actual  operations.  Upon  my 
urgent  appeal  she  desisted  and  remained 
in  Vienna  after  I  had  left,  nursing  in  the 
barracks,  which  are  now  used  for  hos- 
pital work.  In  fact,  almost  every  third 
or  fourth  house,  both  private  and  pub- 
lic, as  well  as  schools,  were  given  to  the 
use  of  the  government  and  converted 
into  Red  Cross  stations. 

The  happy  days  in  Leoben  came  to  an 
abrupt  end,  my  regiment  receiving  or- 
ders to  start  immediately  for  the  front. 
11 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

We  proceeded  to  Graz,  where  we  joined 
the  other  three  battaUons  and  were  en- 
trained for  an  unknown  destination.  We 
traveled  via  Budapest  to  Galicia,  and 
left  the  train  at  Strij,  a  very  important 
railroad  center  south  of  Lemberg.  It 
must  be  understood  that  the  only  reports 
reaching  us  from  the  fighting  line  at  that 
time  were  to  the  effect  that  the  Russians 
had  been  driven  back  from  our  border, 
and  that  the  Austrian  armies  actually 
stood  on  the  enemy's  soil.  Strij  being 
hundreds  of  miles  away  from  the  Rus- 
sian frontier,  we  could  not  but  surmise 
that  we  were  going  to  be  stationed  there 
some  time  for  the  purpose  of  train- 
ing and  maneuvering.  This  behef  was 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  our  regi- 
ment belonged  to  the  Landsturm,  or  sec- 
ond line  of  reserves,  originally  intended 
for  home  service.  We  were,  however, 
alarmed  that  very  same  night  and 
marched  out  of  Strij  for  a  distance  of 

12 


CO     Q 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

about  twenty  miles,  in  conjunction  with 
the  entire  Third  Army  Corps.  After  a 
short  pause  for  the  purpose  of  eating  and 
feeding  the  horses,  we  marched  another 
twenty-two  miles.  This  first  day's  march 
constituted  a  very  strong  test  of  endur- 
ance in  consequence  of  our  comparative 
softness  and  lack  of  training,  especially 
as,  in  addition  to  his  heavy  rifle,  bayo- 
net, ammunition,  and  spade,  each  sol- 
dier was  burdened  with  a  knapsack  con- 
taining emergency  provisions  in  the 
form  of  tinned  meats,  coffee  extract, 
sugar,  salt,  rice,  and  biscuits,  together 
with  various  tin  cooking  and  eating 
utensils;  furthermore  a  second  pair  of 
shoes,  extra  blouse,  changes  of  under- 
wear, etc.  On  top  of  this  heavy  pack  a 
winter  overcoat  and  part  of  a  tent  were 
strapped,  the  entire  weight  of  the  equip- 
ment being  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty 
pounds. 
The  day  wore  on.    Signs  of  fatigue 

IS 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

soon  manifested  themselves  more  and 
more  strongly,  and  slowly  the  men 
dropped  out  one  by  one,  from  sheer  ex- 
haustion. No  murmur  of  complaint,  how- 
ever, would  be  heard.  Most  of  those  who 
fell  out  of  line,  after  taking  a  breathing 
space  for  a  few  minutes,  staggered  on 
again.  The  few  that  remained  behind 
joined  the  regiment  later  on  when  camp 
was  established.  We  wondered  then  at 
the  necessity  of  such  a  forced  march, 
being  unable  to  see  a  reason  for  it,  un- 
less it  was  to  put  us  in  training. 

Night  had  fallen  when  we  reached  a 
small  monastery  in  the  midst  of  a  forest, 
where  the  peaceful  surroundings  and  the 
monastic  life,  entirely  untouched  by  the 
war  fever,  seemed  strange  indeed.  Camp 
was  established,  tents  erected,  fires  were 
lighted,  and  coffee  made.  Soon  a  life  of 
bustling  activity  sprang  up  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  the  midst  of  the  forest  which  only 
a  few  hours  before  had  been  deserted. 

14 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

It  made  a  weird  and  impressive  picture 
in  the  wonderful  starlight  night,  these 
soldiers  sitting  around  the  camp  fires 
softly  singing  in  chorus;  the  fantastic 
outlines  of  the  monastery  half  hidden  in 
the  woods ;  the  dark  figures  of  the  monks 
moving  silently  back  and  forth  amongst 
the  shadows  of  the  trees  as  they  brought 
refreshments  to  the  troops;  the  red  glow 
of  the  camp  fires  illuminating  the  eager 
and  enthusiastic  faces  of  the  young  offi- 
cers grouped  around  the  colonel;  the 
snorting  and  stamping  of  the  horses 
nearby;  an  occasional  melodic  outcry  of 
a  sentinel  out  in  the  night ;  all  these  things 
merging  into  an  unforgettable  scene  of 
great  romanticism  and  beauty.  That 
night  I  lay  for  a  long  while  stretched  near 
the  smoldering  ashes  of  the  camp  fire, 
with  my  cape  as  a  blanket,  in  a  state  of 
lassitude  and  somnolence,  my  soul  filled 
with  exaltation  and  happiness  over  the 
beauty  around  me. 

15 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

The  rest,  however,  was  of  very  short 
duration,  for  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing we  were  aroused,  camp  was  broken 
up  and  soon  afterwards  we  started  on  a 
forced  march  of  twenty-two  miles  with- 
out a  halt,  during  which  we  twice  had 
to  wade  knee-deep  through  rivers.  By 
midday  most  of  the  men  were  so  ex- 
hausted that  they  could  hardly  crawl 
along.  It  was  remarkable  that  the  com- 
paratively weaker  and  more  refined  city- 
bred  people  who  had  done  little  physical 
work  in  their  lives,  most  of  them  being 
professional  men,  withstood  hardships 
better  than  the  sturdy  and,  to  all  appear- 
ances, stronger  peasants.  The  only  ex- 
planation for  it  being  perhaps  that  the 
city-bred  people,  in  consequence  of  their 
better  surroundings  and  by  reason  of 
their  education,  had  more  will  power  and 
nervous  strength  than  the  peasants. 

At  half-past  two  we  reached  a  clearing 
in  the  midst  of  a  wood  through  which  a 

16 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

river  flowed.  Here  camp  was  again  es- 
tablished and  a  half  hour  later  all  the 
hardships  of  the  march  were  once  more 
forgotten  in  the  bustle  of  camp  life.  This 
time  we  had  a  full  rest  until  the  next 
morning  at  four  o'clock,  when  suddenly 
orders  for  marching  were  given.  After 
we  had  been  under  way  for  about  three 
hours  we  heard  far-away,  repeated  rum- 
bling which  sounded  like  distant  thunder. 
Not  for  a  moment  did  we  associate  it 
with  cannonading,  being,  as  we  supposed, 
hundreds  of  miles  away  from  the  nearest 
place  where  Russians  could  possibly  be. 
Suddenly  a  mounted  ordnance  officer 
came  rushing  with  a  message  to  our  colo- 
nel. We  came  to  a  halt  and  all  officers 
were  summoned  to  the  colonel  who,  ad- 
dressing us  in  his  usual  quiet,  almost 
businesslike  way,  said:  "Gentlemen,  ac- 
cept my  congratulations,  I  have  good 
news  for  you,  we  may  meet  the  enemy 
to-day  and  I  sincerely  hope  to  lead  you 

17 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

to  the  fight  before  evening."  We  were 
thunderstruck  at  the  sudden  reaUzation 
that  the  Russians  had  penetrated  so 
deeply  into  Galicia.  The  despondency 
which  followed  this  startling  revelation, 
however,  was  quickly  replaced  by  the 
intense  excitement  of  meeting  the  en- 
emy so  soon.  We  hurried  back  to  our 
companies,  imparting  the  news  to  the 
men,  who  broke  forth  into  shouts  of  en- 
thusiasm. All  the  fatigue  so  plainly 
noticeable  only  a  few  minutes  before, 
suddenly  vanished  as  if  by  magic,  and 
every  one  seemed  alert,  springy,  and  full 
of  spirit.  We  energetically  resumed  the 
march  in  the  direction  of  the  distant 
rumbling,  which  indicated  that  the  artil- 
lery of  our  advance  guard  had  engaged 
the  enemy.  My  regiment  then  was  part 
of  the  main  body  of  a  division.  A  second 
division  advanced  on  the  road  parallel  to 
ours,  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  to  our  left. 
Both  columns  belonged  to  the  Third  Army 

18 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

Corps  and  kept  up  constant  communica- 
tion with  each  other  through  mounted 
dispatch  bearers  and  motor  cycles. 

The  cannonading  had  meanwhile  come 
perceptibly  nearer,  and  in  the  midst  of 
the  dense  forest  we  again  came  to  a  short 
halt.  Orders  were  given  to  load  rifles,  and 
upon  emerging  from  the  woods  we  fell 
into  open  formation,  the  men  marching 
abreast,  the  companies  at  a  distance  of 
three  hundred  yards,  with  the  battalions 
at  a  distance  of  about  a  thousand  yards. 
We  were  slowly  entering  the  range  of  the 
Russian  artillery.  About  a  mile  ahead 
we  could  see  numbers  of  harmless  looking 
round  clouds,  looking  like  ringlets  of 
smoke  from  a  huge  cigar,  indicating  the 
places  where  shrapnel  had  exploded  [in 
mid-air.  Our  men,  not  being  familiar 
with  the  spectacle,  took  no  notice  of  it, 
but  we  officers  knew  its  significance,  and 
I  daresay  many  a  heart  beat  as  wildly  as 
mine  did. 

18 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

We  marched  on  until  the  command 
was  given  for  us  to  deploy,  and  soon 
afterwards  the  first  shrapnel  whizzed  over 
our  heads.  It  did  no  harm,  nor  did  the 
second  and  third,  but  the  fourth  hit 
three  men  in  the  battalion  in  the  rear  of 
us.  Our  forward  movement,  however, 
was  not  interrupted,  and  we  did  not  see 
or  hear  anything  beyond  two  or  three 
startled  cries.  The  next  shell  burst  right 
ahead  of  us,  sending  a  shower  of  bullets 
and  steel  fragments  around.  A  man 
about  twenty  yards  to  the  right  of  my 
company,  but  not  of  my  platoon,  leaped 
into  the  air  with  an  agonizing  cry  and  fell 
in  a  heap,  mortally  wounded.  As  we  were 
advancing  very  swiftly,  I  only  saw  it  as 
in  a  dream,  while  running  by.  Then 
came  in  rapid  succession  four  or  five 
terrific  explosions  right  over  our  heads, 
and  I  felt  a  sudden  gust  of  cold  wind 
strike  my  cheek  as  a  big  shell  fragment 
came  howling  through  the  air,  ploughing 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

the  ground  viciously  as  it  struck  and 
sending  a  spray  of  sand  around. 

We  ran  on  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
when  from  the  rear  came  the  sharp  com- 
mand, "Down,"  and  the  next  second  we 
lay  on  the  ground,  panting  and  ex- 
hausted, my  heart  almost  bursting  with 
the  exertion.  Simultaneously  the  whiz- 
zing of  a  motor  above  our  heads  could 
be  heard  and  we  knew  why  the  enemy's 
shrapnel  had  so  suddenly  found  us.  It 
was  a  Russian  aeroplane  which  presum- 
ably had  signaled  our  approach,  together 
with  the  range,  to  the  Russian  gunners, 
and  now  was  probably  directing  their 
fire  and  closely  watching  its  effect,  for  a 
chain  of  hills  was  hiding  us  from  the  view 
of  the  enemy,  who  consequently  had  to 
fire  indirectly.  The  air  craft  hovered 
above  our  heads,  but  we  were  forbidden 
to  fire  at  it,  the  extremely  difficult,  al- 
most vertical  aim  promising  little  success, 
aside  from  the  danger  of  our  bullets  fall- 

21 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

ing  back  among  us.  Our  reserves  in  the 
rear  had  apparently  sighted  the  air  craft 
too,  for  soon  we  heard  a  volley  of  rifle 
fire  from  that  direction  and  simultane- 
ously the  aeroplane  arose  and  disap- 
peared in  the  clouds. 

Just  then  our  own  artillery  came  thun- 
dering up,  occupied  a  little  hill  in  the 
rear  and  opened  fire  on  the  enemy.  The 
moral  effect  of  the  thundering  of  one's 
own  artillery  is  most  extraordinary,  and 
many  of  us  thought  that  we  had  never 
heard  any  more  welcome  sound  than  the 
deep  roaring  and  crashing  that  started 
in  at  our  rear.  It  quickly  helped  to  dis- 
perse the  nervousness  caused  by  the  first 
entering  into  battle  and  to  restore  self 
control  and  confidence.  Besides,  by  get- 
ting into  action,  our  artillery  was  now 
focusing  the  attention  and  drawing  the 
fire  of  the  Russian  guns,  for  most  of  the 
latter's  shells  whined  harmlessly  above 
us,  being  aimed  at  the  batteries  in  our 


POUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

rear.  Considerably  relieved  by  this  di- 
version, we  resumed  our  forward  move- 
ment after  about  fifteen  minutes  of  fur- 
ther rest,  our  goal  being  the  little  chain 
of  hills  which  our  advance  guard  had 
previously  occupied  pending  our  arrival. 
Here  we  were  ordered  to  take  up  posi- 
tions and  dig  trenches,  any  further  ad- 
vance being  out  of  the  question,  as  the 
Russian  artillery  overlooked  and  com- 
manded the  entire  plain  stretching  in 
front  of  us. 

We  started  at  once  to  dig  our  trenches, 
half  of  my  platoon  stepping  forward 
abreast,  the  men  being  placed  an  arm's 
length  apart.  After  laying  their  rifles 
down,  barrels  pointing  to  the  enemy,  a 
line  was  drawn  behind  the  row  of  rifles 
and  parallel  to  it.  Then  each  man  would 
dig  up  the  ground,  starting  from  his  part 
of  the  hne  backwards,  throwing  forward 
the  earth  removed,  until  it  formed  a 
sort  of  breastwork.   The  second  half  of 

88 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

the  platoon  was  meanwhile  resting  in 
the  rear,  rifle  in  hand  and  ready  for  ac- 
tion. After  a  half  hour  they  took  the 
place  of  the  first  division  at  work,  and 
vice  versa.  Within  an  hour  work  on  the 
trenches  was  so  far  advanced  that  they 
could  be  deepened  while  standing  in 
them.  Such  an  open  trench  affords  suffi- 
cient shelter  against  rifle  bullets  strik- 
ing from  the  front  and  can  be  made  in 
a  measure  shell  proof  by  being  covered 
with  boards,  if  at  hand,  and  with  sod. 

In  the  western  area  of  the  theater  of 
war,  in  France  and  Flanders,  where  whole 
armies  were  deadlocked,  facing  each 
other  for  weeks  without  shifting  their 
position  an  inch,  such  trenches  become 
an  elaborate  affair,  with  extensive  under- 
ground working  and  wing  connections  of 
fines  which  almost  constitute  fittle  fort- 
resses and  afford  a  certain  measure  of 
comfort.  But  where  we  were  in  Galicia 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  with  condi- 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

tions  utterly  unsteady  and  positions 
shifting  daily  and  hourly,  only  the  most 
superficial  trenches  were  used.  In  fact, 
we  thought  ourselves  fortunate  if  we 
could  requisition  enough  straw  to  cover 
the  bottom.  That  afternoon  we  had 
about  half  finished  our  work  when  our 
friend  the  aeroplane  appeared  on  the 
horizon  again.  This  time  we  imme- 
diately opened  fire.  It  disappeared,  but 
apparently  had  seen  enough,  for  very 
soon  our  position  was  shelled.  By  this 
time,  however,  shrapnel  had  almost 
ceased  to  be  a  source  of  concern  to  us  and 
we  scarcely  paid  any  attention  to  it. 
Human  nerves  quickly  get  accustomed 
to  the  most  unusual  conditions  and  cir- 
cumstances and  I  noticed  that  quite  a 
number  of  men  actually  fell  asleep  from 
sheer  exhaustion  in  the  trenches,  in  spite 
of  the  roaring  of  the  cannon  about  us  and 
the  whizzing  of  shrapnel  over  our  heads. 
I,  too,  soon  got  accustomed  to  the 
is 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

deadly  missiles,  —  in  fact,  I  had  already 
started  to  make  observations  of  their 
peculiarities.  My  ear,  accustomed  to 
differentiate  sounds  of  all  kinds,  had 
some  time  ago,  while  we  still  advanced, 
noted  a  remarkable  discrepancy  in  the 
peculiar  whine  produced  by  the  differ- 
ent shells  in  their  rapid  flight  through 
the  air  as  they  passed  over  our  heads, 
some  sounding  shrill,  with  a  rising  ten- 
dency, and  the  others  rather  dull,  with 
a  falling  cadence.  A  short  observation 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  passing  of  a 
dull-  sounding  shell  was  invariably  pre- 
ceded by  a  flash  from  one  of  our  own 
cannon  in  the  rear  on  the  hill,  which  con- 
clusively proved  it  to  be  an  Austrian 
shell.  It  must  be  understood  that  as  we 
were  advancing  between  the  positions 
of  the  Austrian  and  Russian  artillery, 
both  kinds  of  shells  were  passing  over 
our  heads.  As  we  advanced  the  differ- 
ence between  shrill  and  dull  shell  grew 

26 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

less  and  less  perceptible,  until  I  could 
hardly  tell  them  apart.  Upon  nearing 
the  hill  the  difference  increased  again 
more  and  more  until  on  the  hill  itself  it 
was  very  marked.  After  our  trench  was 
finished  I  crawled  to  the  top  of  the  hill 
until  I  could  make  out  the  flash  of  the 
Russian  guns  on  the  opposite  heights 
and  by  timing  flash  and  actual  passing  of 
the  shell,  found  to  my  astonishment  that 
now  the  Russian  missiles  had  become 
dull,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  shrill 
shell  was  invariably  heralded  by  a  flash 
from  one 'of  our  guns,  now  far  in  the  rear. 
What  had  happened  was  this:  Every 
shell  describes  in  its  course  a  paraboHc 
line,  with  the  first  haK  of  the  curve  being 
ascending  and  the  second  one  descend- 
ing. Apparently  in  the  first  half  of  its 
curve,  that  is,  its  course  while  ascend- 
ing, the  shell  produced  a  dull  whine  ac- 
companied by  a  falling  cadence,  which 
changes  to  a  rising  shrill  as  soon  as  the 

27 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

acme  has  been  reached  and  the  curve 
points  downward  again.  The  acme  for 
both  kinds  of  shells  naturally  was  ex- 
actly the  half  distance  between  the  Rus- 
sian and  Austrian  artillery  and  this  was 
the  point  where  I  had  noticed  that  the 
difference  was  the  least  marked.  A  few 
days  later,  in  talking  over  my  observa- 
tion with  an  artillery  officer,  I  was  told 
the  fact  was  known  that  the  shells 
sounded  different  going  up  than  when 
coming  down,  but  this  knowledge  was 
not  used  for  practical  purposes.  When 
I  told  him  that  I  could  actually  determine 
by  the  sound  the  exact  place  where  a 
shell  coming  from  the  opposing  batteries 
was  reaching  its  acme,  he  thought  that 
this  would  be  of  great  value  in  a  case 
where  the  position  of  the  opposing  bat- 
tery was  hidden  and  thus  could  be  lo- 
cated. He  apparently  spoke  to  his  com- 
mander about  me,  for  a  few  days  later 
I  was  sent  on  a  reconnoitering  tour,  with 

88 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

the  object  of  marking  on  the  map  the 
exact  spot  where  I  thought  the  hostile 
shells  were  reaching  their  acme,  and  it 
was  later  on  reported  to  me  that  I  had 
succeeded  in  giving  to  our  batteries  the 
almost  exact  range  of  the  Russian  guns. 
I  have  gone  into  this  matter  at  some 
length,  because  it  is  the  only  instance 
where  my  musical  ear  was  of  value  dur- 
ing my  service. 

To  return  to  my  narrative,  the  losses 
which  my  battalion  suffered  that  day 
seemed  extraordinarily  small  when  com- 
pared with  the  accuracy  of  the  Russian 
artillery's  aim  and  the  number  of  mis- 
siles they  fired.  I  counted  seventy-four 
shrapnel  that  burst  in  a  circle  of  half  a 
mile  around  us  in  about  two  hours,  and 
yet  we  had  no  more  than  about  eighteen 
casualties.  The  most  difficult  part  was 
to  lie  still  and  motionless  while  death  was 
being  dealt  all  about  us,  and  it  was  then 
and  there  that  I  had  my  first  experience 

29 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

of  seeing  death  next  to  me.  A  soldier  of 
my  platoon,  while  digging  in  the  trench, 
suddenly  leaned  back,  began  to  cough 
like  an  old  man,  a  httle  blood  broke  from 
his  lips,  and  he  crumpled  together  in  a 
heap  and  lay  quite  still.  I  could  not  real- 
ize that  this  was  the  end,  for  his  eyes 
were  wide  open  and  his  face  wore  the 
stamp  of  complete  serenity.  Apparently 
he  had  not  suffered  at  all.  The  man  had 
been  a  favorite  with  all  his  fellows  by  rea- 
son of  his  good  humor,  and  that  he  was 
now  stretched  out  dead  seemed  unbeliev- 
able. I  saw  a  great  many  men  die  after- 
wards, some  suffering  horribly,  but  I 
do  not  recall  any  death  that  affected  me 
quite  so  much  as  that  of  this  first  victim 
in  my  platoon. 


II 

The  artillery  duel  died  out  with  the 
coming  of  darkness  and  we  settled  down 
to  rest,  half  of  the  men  taking  watch 
while  the  others  slept.  At  five  o'clock  in 
the  morning  our  regiment  suddenly  re- 
ceived the  order  to  fall  in,  and,  together 
with  two  other  regiments,  was  drawn  out 
of  the  fighting  line.  Our  commanding 
general  had  received  news  that  an  iso- 
lated detachment  on  the  extreme  right 
wing  of  our  army,  about  fifteen  miles 
east  of  us,  had  been  entirely  surrounded 
by  a  strong  Russian  body,  and  we  were 
ordered  to  relieve  them.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  our  men  had  been  under  a 
most  incredible  strain  for  the  last  three 
days  with  barely  any  rest  during  the 
nights  and  not  more  than  one  meal  a  day. 
They  had  actually  welcomed  entering 

81 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

the  firing  line,  as  a  relief  from  the  fa- 
tigues of  marching  with  their  heavy  bur- 
dens. It  is  curious  how  indifferent  one 
becomes  to  danger  if  one's  organism  is 
worn  down  and  brain  and  faculty  of  per- 
ception numbed  by  physical  exertion. 
It  was,  therefore,  with  badly  broken- 
down  strength  that  we  started  on  this 
relief  expedition,  and  it  was  good  to  see 
how  unflinchingly  the  soldiers  under- 
took their  unexpected  new  task.  All  we 
had  to  say  to  our  men  was:  "Boys,  your 
brothers  are  needing  you.  They  are  cut 
off  from  all  possible  relief  unless  you 
bring  it.  Their  lives  are  at  stake,  and 
as  they  are  defending  one  of  the  most 
strategically  important  points  —  the 
right  wing  of  our  army  —  you  can  turn 
the  tide  of  the  whole  battle  in  our  favor; 
so  go  on.'*  And  on  they  went,  staggering 
and  stumbling,  and  at  the  end  of  a  few 
hours  almost  crawling,  but  ever  forward. 
Suddenly  we  came  up  with  another 

82 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

regiment  which  had  been  called  to  the 
same  task,  and  the  colonel  of  the  new 
regiment,  being  older  in  rank  than  our 
colonel,  took  command  of  the  newly 
formed  brigade  of  two  regiments.  My 
company  happened  to  march  at  the  head 
of  the  regiment  and  the  new  brigadier 
rode  for  some  time  alongside  of  me.  I 
was  deeply  impressed  by  his  firm  mili- 
tary and  yet  unassuming  bearing  and 
his  deep  glowing  enthusiasm  for  his  army 
and  his  men.  He  told  me  with  pride  that 
two  of  his  sons  were  serving  in  the  army, 
too,  one  as  an  artillery  officer  and  the 
other  one  as  an  officer  with  the  sappers. 
We  were  then  approaching  the  point 
where  we  could  hear  distinctly  the  fire  of 
our  own  batteries  and  the  answer  from 
the  Russians,  and  here  and  there  a  vol- 
ley of  rifle  fire.  Our  colonel  urged  us  on 
to  renewed  energy,  and  knowledge  that 
we  were  nearing  our  goal  seemed  to  give 
new  strength  to  our  men.  Already  we 
ss 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

were  witnessing  evidences  of  the  first 
fight  that  had  passed  here,  for  wounded 
men  constantly  passed  us  on  stretchers. 
Suddenly  I  saw  the  face  of  the  colonel 
riding  next  to  me,  light  up  with  ex- 
citement as  a  wounded  man  was  borne 
past.  He  addressed  a  few  words  to  the 
stretcher-bearers  and  then  turned  to  me, 
saying:  "The  regiment  of  my  son  is 
fighting  on  the  hill.  It  is  one  of  their  men 
they  have  brought  by."  He  urged  us  on 
again,  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  no- 
ticed —  or  was  it  my  imagination  —  a 
new  note  of  appeal  in  his  face.  Suddenly 
another  stretcher  was  brought  past.  The 
colonel  at  my  side  jumped  from  his  horse, 
crying  out,  "My  boy,"  and  a  feeble 
voice  answered,  "Father."  We  all 
stopped  as  if  a  command  had  been  given, 
to  look  at  the  young  officer  who  lay  on 
the  stretcher,  his  eyes  all  aglow  with  en- 
thusiasm and  joy,  unmindful  of  his  own 
wound  as  he  cried  out,  "Father,  how 

84 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

splendid  that  the  relief  should  just  come 
from  you!  Goon.  We  held  out  splendidly . 
All  we  need  is  ammunition  and  a  little 
moral  support.  Go  on,  don*t  stop  for 
me,  I  am  all  right."  The  old  colonel 
stood  like  a  statue  of  bronze.  His  face 
had  become  suddenly  ashen  gray.  He 
looked  at  the  doctor  and  tried  to  catch 
his  expression.  The  doctor  seemed 
grave.  But  the  young  man  urged  us  on, 
saying,  "Go  on,  go  on,  I'll  be  all  right 
to-morrow."  The  whole  incident  had 
not  lasted  more  than  five  minutes,  barely 
longer  than  it  takes  to  write  it.  The 
colonel  mounted  his  horse,  sternly  com- 
manding us  to  march  forward,  but  the 
light  had  died  out  of  his  eyes. 

Within  the  next  ten  minutes  a  hail  of 
shrapnel  was  greeting  us,  but  hardly  any 
one  of  us  was  conscious  of  it,  so  terribly 
and  deeply  were  we  affected  by  the  scene 
of  tragedy  that  had  just  been  enacted 
before  us.    I  remember  foolishly  mum- 

S5 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

bling  something  to  the  silent  man  riding 
next  to  me,  something  about  the  power 
of  recuperation  of  youth,  about  the  com- 
parative harmlessness  of  the  pointed, 
steelmantled  rifle  bullets  which  on  ac- 
count of  their  terrific  percussion  make 
small  clean  wounds  and  rarely  cause 
splintering  of  the  bone  or  blood  poison- 
ing. I  remember  saying  that  I  had  quite 
a  medical  knowledge  and  that  it  seemed 
to  me  that  his  son  was  not  mortally 
wounded.  But  he  knew  better.  He 
never  said  a  word,  only,  a  few  minutes 
later,  "He  was  my  only  hope";  and  I 
can't  express  how  ominous  that  word 
"was"  sounded  to  me.  But  just  then  the 
command  to  deploy  was  given  and  the 
excitement  that  followed  drowned  for 
the  time  being  all  melancholy  thoughts. 
We  quickly  ascended  the  hill  where 
the  isolated  detachment  of  Austrians  had 
kept  the  Russians  at  bay  for  fully 
twenty-four  hours  and  opened  fire  on 


POUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

the  enemy,  while  the  second  regiment 
tried  to  turn  his  left  flank.  The  Rus- 
sians slowly  fell  back  but  we  followed 
them,  and  a  sort  of  running  fight  en- 
sued, during  which  my  regiment  lost 
about  fifty  —  dead  and  wounded.  The 
Russians  temporarily  resisted  again,  but 
soon  the  pressure  from  our  other  regi- 
ment on  their  flank  began  to  be  felt  and 
they  fled  rather  disorderly,  leaving  two 
machine  guns,  some  ammunition,  and 
four  carriages  full  of  provisions  in  our 
hands,  while  the  regiment  which  had 
executed  the  flanking  movement  took 
two  hundred  and  forty  prisoners. 

Around  eight  o'clock  at  night  the 
fight  was  stopped  for  want  of  light,  and 
we  took  up  our  newly  acquired  positions, 
entrenched  them  well,  and  began  to 
make  ready  for  the  night.  Orders  for 
outpost  duty  were  given  and  the  officers 
were  again  called  to  the  brigadier-colo- 
nel, who  in  a  few  words  outlined  the  sit- 

37 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

uation  to  us,  thanking  us  for  the  perti- 
nacity and  bravery  shown  by  the  troops, 
and  adding  that  the  success  of  the  ex- 
pedition lay  in  the  fact  that  we  had  ar- 
rived in  time  to  save  the  situation. 

Then  the  question  of  transporting 
prisoners  to  the  rear  came  up,  and  while 
the  brigadier's  eyes  were  searching  us  I 
felt  that  he  was  going  to  entrust  me  with 
that  mission.  He  looked  at  me,  gave  me 
the  order  in  a  short,  measured  way,  but 
his  eyes  gazed  searchingly  and  deeply 
into  mine,  and  I  thought  I  understood 
the  unspoken  message.  So,  tired  as  I 
was,  I  immediately  set  out  with  a  guard 
of  twenty  men  to  transport  the  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  Russian  prisoners,  among 
whom  were  two  ofTicers,  back  behind  the 
fighting  hne.  They  seemed  not  unhappy 
over  their  lot  —  in  fact,  were  smoking 
and  chatting  freely  while  we  marched 
back.  One  of  the  Russian  officers  had 
a  wound  in  his  leg  and  was  carried  on  a 

38 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

stretcher,  but  he,  too,  seemed  quite  at 
ease,  conversing  with  me  in  French  and 
congratulating  me  upon  the  bravery  our 
isolated  detachment  had  shown  against 
the  terrific  onslaught.  As  soon  as  I  had 
dehvered  them  safely  into  the  hands  of 
the  commander  of  our  reserves,  I  in- 
quired the  way  to  the  nearest  field  hos- 
pital in  search  of  the  young  officer,  the 
son  of  our  brigadier-colonel.  It  was  then 
about  nine  o'clock  at  night,  and  on  en- 
tering the  peasant's  hut  where  the  field 
hospital  was  established,  I  saw  at  a 
glance  that  I  had  come  too  late.  He  lay 
there  still,  hands  folded  over  his  breast 
with  as  serene  and  happy  an  expression 
as  if  asleep.  His  faithful  orderly  sat 
weeping  next  to  him,  and  some  kind  hand 
had  laid  a  small  bunch  of  field  flowers 
on  his  breast. 

From  the  doctor  I  got  the  full  informa- 
tion. He  had  received  a  shot  in  the  ab- 
domen and  a  rifle  bullet  had  grazed  his 

S9 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

cheek.  His  last  words  had  been  a  fer- 
vent expression  of  joy  over  the  rehef 
brought  by  his  father  and  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  position  would  not  be 
taken  by  the  Russians.  He  had  died  as 
simply  as  a  child,  without  regret,  and 
utterly  happy.  I  took  the  orderly  with 
me,  asking  him  to  carry  all  the  belong- 
ings of  the  young  officer  with  him  in 
order  to  transmit  them  to  his  father. 

When  I  returned  with  the  orderly, 
the  brigadier  was  issuing  orders  to  his 
officers  and  conferring  with  them  about 
the  military  situation.  He  saw  me  come, 
yet  not  a  muscle  moved  in  his  face,  nor 
did  he  interrupt  his  conversation.  I  was 
overwhelmed  by  the  power  this  man 
showed  at  that  minute,  and  admit  I  had 
not  the  courage  to  break  the  news  to 
him,  but  it  was  unnecessary,  for  he  un- 
derstood. The  faithful  orderly  stepped 
forward,  as  I  had  bidden  him,  present- 
ing to  the  old  man  the  pocketbook  and 

40 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

small  articles  that  belonged  to  his  son. 
While  he  did  so  he  broke  forth  into  sobs, 
lamenting  aloud  the  loss  of  his  beloved 
lieutenant,  yet  not  a  muscle  moved  in  the 
face  of  the  father.  He  took  my  report, 
nodded  curtly,  dismissed  me  without  a 
word,  and  turned  back  to  his  ordnance 
officers,  resuming  the  conversation. 

I  assumed  the  command  of  my  platoon 
which  in  the  mean  time  had  been  as- 
signed to  do  some  outpost  duty  under 
the  command  of  the  sergeant.  I  inquired 
about  their  position  and  went  out  to  join 
them.  About  midnight  we  were  relieved, 
and  when  marching  back,  passed  the 
place  where  the  tent  of  the  brigadier  had 
been  erected.  I  saw  a  dark  figure  lying 
on  the  floor,  seemingly  in  deep  sleep, 
and  ordering  my  men  to  march  on  I 
crept  silently  forward.  Then  I  saw  that 
his  shoulders  were  convulsively  shaking 
and  I  knew  that  the  mask  of  iron  had 
fallen  at  last.  The  night  was  chilly  so  I 

41 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

entered  his  tent  in  search  of  his  over- 
coat and  laid  it  around  his  shoulders. 
He  never  noticed  it.  The  next  morning 
when  I  saw  him  his  face  was  as  immov- 
able as  it  had  been  the  night  before, 
but  he  seemed  to  have  aged  by  many 
years* 

The  next  day  was  a  comparatively 
restful  one.  We  fortified  the  entrench- 
ments which  we  had  taken,  and  as  our 
battle  lines  were  extended  to  the  right, 
from  being  the  extreme  right  we  became 
almost  the  center  of  the  new  position 
which  extended  for  perhaps  ten  miles 
from  northwest  to  southeast  about  eight- 
een miles  south  of  Lemberg. 

The  next  few  days  were  given  to  re- 
pairs, provisioning,  and  resting,  with  oc- 
casional small  skirmishes  and  shifting  of 
positions.  Then  one  night  a  scouting 
aeroplane  brought  news  of  a  forward 
movement  of  about  five  Russian  army 
corps,  which  seemed  to  push  in  the  di- 

42 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

rection  of  our  center.  Against  this  force 
we  could  muster  only  about  two  army 
corps,  but  our  strategical  position  seemed 
a  very  good  one,  both  the  extreme  flanks 
of  our  army  being  protected  by  large  and 
impassable  swamps.  Evidently  the  Rus- 
sians had  realized  the  impossibility  of 
turning  our  flanks  and  were  endeavor- 
ing to  pierce  our  center  by  means  of  a 
vigorous  frontal  attack,  relying  upon 
their  great  superiority  in  numbers. 
Every  preparation  had  been  made  to 
meet  the  onslaught  during  the  night. 
Our  trenches  had  been  strengthened,  the 
artillery  had  been  brought  into  position, 
cleverly  masked  by  means  of  transplanted 
bushes,  the  field  in  front  of  us  had  been 
cleared  of  objects  obstructing  the  view, 
and  the  sappers  had  been  feverishly 
busy  constructing  formidable  barbed- 
wire  entanglements  and  carefully  meas- 
uring the  shooting  distances,  marking 
the  different  ranges  by  bundles  of  hay 

43 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

or  other  innocent-looking  objects,  which 
were  placed  here  and  there  in  the  field. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  every- 
thing was  ready  to  receive  the  enemy, 
the  men  taking  a  short  and  well-de- 
served rest  in  their  trenches,  while  we 
officers  were  called  to  the  colonel,  who 
acquainted  us  with  the  general  situa- 
tion, and,  giving  his  orders,  addressed 
us  in  a  short,  business-like  way,  appeal- 
ing to  our  sense  of  duty  and  expressing 
his  firm  belief  in  our  victory.  We  all 
knew  that  his  martial  attitude  and 
abrupt  manner  were  a  mask  to  hide  his 
inner  self,  full  of  throbbing  emotion  and 
tender  solicitude  for  his  subordinates, 
and  we  returned  to  our  trenches  deeply 
moved. 

The  camp  was  absolutely  quiet.  The 
only  movements  noticeable  being  around 
the  field  kitchens  in  the  rear,  which  were 
being  removed  from  the  battle  line.  A 
half  hour  later  any  casual  observer, 

44 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

glancing  over  the  deserted  fields  might 
have  laughed  at  the  intimation  that  the 
earth  around  him  was  harboring  thou- 
sands of  men  armed  to  their  teeth,  and 
that  pandemonium  of  hell  would  break 
loose  within  an  hour.  Barely  a  sound 
was  audible,  and  a  hush  of  expectancy 
descended  upon  us.  I  looked  around  at 
my  men  in  the  trench;  some  were  quietly 
asleep,  some  writing  letters,  others  con- 
versed in  subdued  and  hushed  tones. 
Every  face  I  saw  bore  the  unmistakable 
stamp  of  the  feeling  so  characteristic  of 
the  last  hour  before  a  battle,  —  that 
curious  mixture  of  solemn  dignity,  grave 
responsibihty,  and  suppressed  emotion, 
with  an  undercurrent  of  sad  resignation. 
They  were  pondering  over  their  possible 
fate,  or  perhaps  dreaming  of  their  dear 
ones  at  home. 

By  and  by  even  the  little  conversa- 
tion ceased,  and  they  sat  quite  silent, 
waiting  and  waiting,  perhaps  awed  by 

45 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

their  own  silence.  Sometimes  one  would 
bravely  try  to  crack  a  joke,  and  they 
laughed,  but  it  sounded  strained.  They 
were  plainly  nervous,  these  brave  men 
that  fought  like  lions  in  the  open  when 
led  to  an  attack,  heedless  of  danger  and 
destruction.  They  felt  under  a  cloud  in 
the  security  of  the  trenches,  and  they 
were  conscious  of  it  and  ashamed.  Some- 
times my  faithful  orderly  would  turn  his 
eye  on  me,  mute,  as  if  in  quest  of  an  ex- 
planation of  his  own  feeling.  Poor  dear 
unsophisticated  boy !  I  was  as  nervous  as 
they  all  were,  although  trying  my  best  to 
look  unconcerned;  but  I  knew  that  the 
hush  that  hovered  around  us  like  a  dark 
cloud  would  give  way  like  magic  to  wild 
enthusiasm  as  soon  as  the  first  shot  broke 
the  spell  and  the  exultation  of  the  battle 
took  hold  of  us  all. 

Suddenly,  at  about  ten  o'clock,  a  dull 
thud  sounded  somewhere  far  away  from 
us,  and  simultaneously  we  saw  a  small 

46 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

white  round  cloud  about  half  a  mile 
ahead  of  us  where  the  shrapnel  had  ex- 
ploded. The  battle  had  begun.  Other 
shots  followed  shortly,  exploding  here 
and  there,  but  doing  no  harm.  The  Rus- 
sian gunners  evidently  were  trying  to 
locate  and  draw  an  answer  from  our  bat- 
teries. These,  however,  remained  mute, 
not  caring  to  reveal  their  position.  For  a 
long  time  the  Russians  fired  at  random, 
mostly  at  too  short  a  range  to  do  any 
harm,  but  slowly  the  harmless-looking 
white  clouds  came  nearer,  until  a  shell, 
whining  as  it  whizzed  past  us,  burst  about 
a  hundred  yards  behind  our  trench.  A 
second  shell  followed,  exploding  almost 
at  the  same  place.  At  the  same  time,  we 
noticed  a  faint  spinning  noise  above  us. 
Soaring  high  above  our  position,  looking 
like  a  speck  in  the  firmament,  flew  a  Rus- 
sian aeroplane,  watching  the  effect  of  the 
shells  and  presumably  directing  the  fire 
of  the  Russian  artillery.  This  explained 

47 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

its  sudden  accuracy.  One  of  our  aero- 
planes rose,  giving  chase  to  the  enemy, 
and  simultaneously  our  batteries  got  into 
action.  The  Russians  kept  up  a  sharply 
concentrated,  well-directed  fire  against 
our  center,  our  gunners  responding 
gallantly,  and  the  spirited  artillery  duel 
which  ensued  grew  in  intensity  until 
the  entrails  of  the  earth  seemed  fairly 
to  shake  with  the  thunder. 

By  one  o'clock  the  incessant  roaring, 
crashing,  and  splintering  of  bursting 
shells  had  become  almost  unendurable  to 
our  nerves,  which  were  already  strained 
to  the  snapping-point  by  the  lack  of  ac- 
tion and  the  expectancy.  Suddenly  there 
appeared  a  thin  dark  line  on  the  horizon 
which  moved  rapidly  towards  us,  looking 
not  unhke  a  huge  running  bird  with  im- 
mense outstretched  wings.  We  looked 
through  our  field  glasses;  there  could  be 
no  doubt,  —  it  was  Russian  cavalry, 
swooping  down  upon  us  with  incredible 

48 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

impetus  and  swiftness.  I  quickly  glanced 
at  our  colonel.  He  stared  open-mouthed. 
This  was,  indeed,  good  fortune  for  us,  — 
too  good  to  believe.  No  cavalry  attack 
could  stand  before  well-discipHned  infan- 
try, providing  the  latter  keep  cool  and 
well  composed,  calmly  waiting  until  the 
riders  come  sufficiently  close  to  take  sure 
aim. 

There  was  action  for  us  at  last.  At  a 
sharp  word  of  command,  our  men  scram- 
bled out  of  the  trenches  for  better  view 
and  aim,  shouting  with  joy  as  they  did 
so.  What  a  change  had  come  over  us  all  I 
My  heart  beat  with  wild  exultation.  I 
glanced  at  my  men.  They  were  all  eager- 
ness and  determination,  hand  at  the 
trigger,  eyes  on  the  approaching  enemy, 
every  muscle  strained,  yet  calm,  their 
bronzed  faces  hardened  into  immobility, 
waiting  for  the  command  to  fire.  Every 
subaltern  officer's  eye  hung  on  our  colo- 
nel, who  stood  about  thirty  yards  ahead 

49 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

of  us  on  a  little  hill,  his  figure  well  de- 
fined in  the  sunlight,  motionless,  the 
very  picture  of  calm  assurance  and  proud 
bearing.  He  scanned  the  horizon  with 
his  glasses.  Shrapnel  was  hailing  around 
him,  but  he  seemed  utterly  unaware  of 
it;  for  that  matter  we  had  all  forgotten 
it,  though  it  kept  up  its  terrible  uproar, 
spitting  here  and  there  destruction  into 
our  midst. 

By  this  time  the  avalanche  of  tramp- 
ing horses  had  come  perceptibly  nearer. 
Soon  they  would  sweep  by  the  bundle  of 
hay  which  marked  the  carefully  meas- 
ured range  within  which  our  fire  was 
terribly  effective.  Suddenly  the  mad 
stampede  came  to  an  abrupt  standstill, 
and  then  the  Cossacks  scattered  pre- 
cipitately to  the  right  and  left,  only  to 
disclose  in  their  rear  the  advancing  Rus- 
sian infantry,  the  movements  of  which  it 
had  been  their  endeavor  to  veil. 

The  infantry  moved  forward  in  loose 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

lines,  endlessly  rolling  on  like  shallow 
waves  overtaking  each  other,  one  line 
running  forward,  then  suddenly  disap- 
pearing by  throwing  itself  down  and 
opening  fire  on  us  to  cover  the  advance 
of  the  other  line,  and  so  on,  while  their 
artillery  kept  up  a  hellish  uproar  spread- 
ing destruction  through  our  lines.  Simul- 
taneously a  Russian  aeroplane  swept 
down  upon  us  with  a  noise  Hke  an  an- 
gered bird  of  prey  and  pelted  us  with 
bombs,  the  effects  of  which,  however, 
were  more  moral  than  actual,  for  we  had 
regained  the  security  of  the  trenches  and 
opened  fire  on  the  approaching  enemy, 
who  in  spite  of  heavy  losses  advanced 
steadily  until  he  reached  our  wire  entan- 
glements. There  he  was  greeted  by  a 
deadly  fire  from  our  machine  guns.  The 
first  Russian  fines  were  mowed  down  as 
if  by  a  gigantic  scythe,  and  so  were  the 
reserves  as  they  tried  to  advance.  The 
first  attack  had  collapsed.  After  a  short 

51 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

time,  however,  they  came  on  again,  this 
time  more  cautiously,  armed  with  nip- 
pers to  cut  the  barbed  wire  and  using 
the  bodies  of  their  own  fallen  comrades 
as  a  rampart.  Again  they  were  repulsed. 
Once  more  their  cavalry  executed  a 
feigned  attack  under  cover  of  which  the 
Russian  infantry  rallied,  strongly  rein- 
forced by  reserves,  and  more  determined 
than  ever. 

Supported  by  heavy  artillery  fire  their 
lines  rolled  endlessly  on  and  hurled  them- 
selves against  the  barbed-wire  fences. 
For  a  short  time  it  almost  seemed,  as  if 
they  would  break  through  by  sheer 
weight  of  numbers.  At  that  critical  mo- 
ment, however,  our  reserves  succeeded 
in  executing  a  flanking  movement.  Sur- 
prised and  caught  in  a  deadly  cross-fire, 
the  Russian  line  wavered  and  finally 
they  fled  in  disorder. 

All  these  combined  artillery,  infantry, 
cavalry,  and  aeroplane  attacks  had  ut- 

6i 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

terly  failed  in  their  object  of  dislodging 
our  center  or  shaking  its  position,  each 
one  being  frustrated  by  the  resourceful, 
cool  alertness  of  our  commanding  gen- 
eral and  the  splendid  heroism  and  stoi- 
cism of  our  troops.  But  the  strain  of  the 
continuous  fighting  for  nearly  the  whole 
day  without  respite  of  any  kind,  or 
chance  for  food  or  rest,  in  the  end  told 
on  the  power  of  endurance  of  our  men, 
and  when  the  last  attack  had  been  suc- 
cessfully repulsed  they  lay  mostly  pros- 
trated on  the  ground,  panting  and 
exhausted.  Our  losses  had  been  very 
considerable,  too,  stretcher-bearers  being 
busy  administering  first  aid  and  carrying 
the  wounded  back  to  the  nearest  field 
hospital,  while  many  a  brave  man  lay 
stark  and  still. 

By  eight  o'clock  it  had  grown  per- 
ceptibly cooler.  We  now  had  time  to  col- 
lect our  impressions  and  look  about  us. 
The  Russians  had  left  many  dead  on  the 

63 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

field,  and  at  the  barbed-wire  entangle- 
ments which  our  sappers  had  constructed 
as  an  obstacle  to  their  advance,  their 
bodies  lay  heaped  upon  each  other,  look- 
ing not  unlike  the  more  innocent  bundles 
of  hay  lying  in  the  field.  We  could  see 
the  small  Red  Cross  parties  in  the  field 
climbing  over  the  horribly  grotesque 
tumuli  of  bodies,  trying  to  disentangle 
the  wounded  from  the  dead  and  ad- 
minister first  aid  to  them. 

Enthusiasm  seemed  suddenly  to  disap- 
pear before  this  terrible  spectacle.  Life 
that  only  a  few  hours  before  had  glowed 
with  enthusiasm  and  exultation,  sud- 
denly paled  and  sickened.  The  silence 
of  the  night  was  interrupted  only  by  the 
low  moaning  of  the  wounded  that  came 
regularly  to  us.  It  was  hideous  in 
its  terrible  monotony.  The  moon  had 
risen,  throwing  fantastic  lights  and  shad- 
ows over  the  desolate  landscape  and  the 
heaped-up  dead.    These  grotesque  piles 

54 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

of  human  bodies  seemed  like  a  monstrous 
sacrificial  offering  immolated  on  the  al- 
tar of  some  fiendishly  cruel,  antique 
deity.  I  felt  faint  and  sick  at  heart  and 
near  swooning  away.  I  lay  on  the  floor 
for  some  time  unconscious  of  what  was 
going  on  around  me,  in  a  sort  of  stupor, 
utterly  crushed  over  the  horrors  about 
me.  I  do  not  know  how  long  I  had  lain 
there,  perhaps  ten  minutes,  perhaps  half 
an  hour,  when  suddenly  I  heard  a  gruff, 
deep  voice  behind  me  —  the  brigadier, 
who  had  come  around  to  inspect  and  to 
give  orders  about  the  outposts.  His  calm, 
quiet  voice  brought  me  to  my  senses  and 
I  reported  to  him.  His  self-assurance, 
kindness,  and  determination  dominated 
the  situation.  Within  five  minutes  he 
had  restored  confidence,  giving  definite 
orders  for  the  welfare  of  every  one,  man 
and  beast  alike,  showing  his  solicitude  for 
the  wounded,  for  the  sick  and  weak  ones, 
and  mingUng  praise  and  admonition  in 

55 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

just  measure.  As  by  magic  I  felt  fortified. 
Here  was  a  real  man  undaunted  by 
nervous  qualms  or  by  over-sensitiveness. 
The  horrors  of  the  war  were  distasteful 
to  him,  but  he  bore  them  with  equanim- 
ity. It  was,  perhaps,  the  first  time  in  my 
life  that  I  regretted  that  my  artistic 
education  had  over-sharpened  and  over- 
strung my  nervous  system,  when  I  saw 
how  manfully  and  bravely  that  man  bore 
what  seemed  to  me  almost  unbearable. 
His  whole  machinery  of  thinking  was 
not  complicated  and  not  for  a  moment 
did  qualms  of  "Weltschmerz"  or  exag- 
gerated altruism  burden  his  conscience 
and  interfere  with  his  straight  line  of  con- 
duct which  was  wholly  determined  by 
duty  and  code  of  honor.  In  his  private 
life  he  was  an  unusually  kind  man.  His 
soUcitude  for  his  subordinates,  for  pris- 
oners, and  for  the  wounded  was  touch- 
ing, yet  he  saw  the  horrors  of  the  war  un- 
flinchingly and  without  weakening,  for 

56 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

were  they  not  the  consequences  of  the 
devotion  of  men  to  their  cause?  The 
whole  thing  seemed  quite  natural  to  him. 
The  man  was  clearly  in  his  element  and 
dominated  it. 

After  having  inspected  the  outposts, 
I  went  back,  bedded  myself  in  a  soft 
sand-heap,  covered  myself  up,  and  was 
soon  fast  and  peacefully  asleep.  During 
the  night  the  dew  moistened  the  sand, 
and  when  I  awoke  in  the  morning  I  found 
myself  encased  in  a  plastering  which 
could  not  be  removed  for  days. 


Ill 

Our  hopes  of  getting  a  little  rest  and 
respite  from  the  fighting  were  soon  scat- 
tered, for  a  scouting  aeroplane  brought 
news  that  the  Russians  were  again  ad- 
vancing in  overwhelming  strength.  Our 
commanding  general,  coming  to  the  con- 
clusion that  with  the  reduced  and  weak- 
ened forces  at  his  command  he  could  not 
possibly  offer  any  effective  resistance  to 
a  renewed  onslaught,  had  determined 
to  fall  back  slowly  before  their  pressure. 
The  consequence  was  a  series  of  retreat- 
ing battles  for  us,  which  lasted  about  ten 
days  and  which  constituted  what  is  now 
called  the  battle  of  Lemberg. 

We  were  then  terribly  outnumbered 
by  the  Russians,  and  in  order  to  extri- 
cate our  army  and  prevent  it  from  being 
surrounded  and  cut  off,  we  constantly 

58 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

had  to  retreat,  one  detachment  taking 
up  positions  to  resist  the  advancing  Rus- 
sians, trying  to  hold  them  at  all  costs 
in  order  to  give  the  rest  of  the  army 
sufficient  time  to  retire  to  safety.  This 
maneuvering  could  not,  of  course,  be 
carried  out  without  the  forces  guarding 
the  rear  and  covering  the  retreat  suffer- 
ing sometimes  terrible  losses. 

These  were  depressing  days,  with  rain 
and  storm  adding  to  the  gloom.  The 
men  tramped  wearily,  hanging  their 
heads,  ashamed  and  humiliated  by  the 
retreat,  the  necessity  of  which  they 
could  not  grasp,  having,  as  they  thought, 
successfully  repulsed  the  enemy.  It  was 
difficult  to  make  them  understand  that 
our  regiment  was  only  a  cog  in  the  huge 
wheel  of  the  Austrian  fighting  machine 
and  that,  with  a  battle  line  extending 
over  many  miles,  it  was  quite  natural 
that  partial  successes  could  take  place 
and  yet  the  consideration  of  general 

59 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

strategy  necessitate  a  retreat.  Our  argu- 
ing made  little  impression  on  the  men; 
for  they  only  shook  their  heads  and  said, 
"We  were  victorious,  we  should  have 
gone  on." 

The  spirit  of  retreating  troops  is  vastly 
different  from  that  shown  by  an  advanc- 
ing army,  and  it  was  probably  in  recog- 
nition of  this  well-known  psychological 
state  that  our  general  staff  had  in  the 
beginning  attacked  the  Russians  wher- 
ever they  could,  in  spite  of  the  over- 
whelming superiority  of  the  foe,  but  the 
reinforcements  the  Russians  were  able 
to  draw  upon  had  swelled  their  ranks 
so  enormously  that  any  attack  would 
have  been  little  short  of  madness. 

The  real  hardships  and  privations  for 
us  began  only  now.  The  few  roads  of 
Galicia,  which  at  best  are  in  bad  condi- 
tion, through  the  constant  passing  of 
heavy  artillery  and  wagons  of  all  kinds 
following  each  other  in  endless  proces- 

60 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

sion  through  constant  rains,  had  become 
well-nigh  impassable,  the  heavy  mud 
constituting  an  additional  impediment 
to  the  marching  of  troops.  In  order  to 
get  all  of  the  train  carrying  provisions 
out  of  the  possible  reach  of  a  sudden  raid 
by  the  Russian  cavalry,  it  had  to  be  sent 
miles  back  of  us,  so  as  not  to  interfere 
with  the  movement  of  the  troops.  This 
caused  somewhat  of  an  interruption  in 
the  organization  of  the  commissary  de- 
partment and  very  Httle  food  reached 
the  troops,  and  that  only  at  very  long 
intervals. 

The  distribution  of  food  to  an  army, 
even  in  peace  and  under  the  best  condi- 
tions, is  a  very  compHcated  and  difficult 
undertaking.  Provisions  are  shipped 
from  the  interior  to  the  important  rail- 
way centers,  which  serve  as  huge  army 
depots  and  form  the  basis  from  which  the 
different  army  corps  draw  their  provisions 
and  from  which  they  are  constantly  re- 
el 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

plenished.  They  in  turn  supply  the  divi- 
sions and  brigades^wherefrom  the  regi- 
ments and  battalions  draw  their  provi- 
sions. So  it  is  seen  that  the  great  aorta 
which  leads  from  the  interior  to  the  big 
depots  slowly  subdivides  itself  into 
smaller  arteries  and  feeders  until  they 
reach  the  ultimate  destination,  the  ex- 
treme front. 

This  distribution  of  food  had  now  be- 
come a  formidable  task,  in  consequence 
of  the  unforeseen  movements  and  diver- 
sions which  were  forced  upon  us  by  the 
unexpected  developments  of  the  battle; 
and  it  often  happened  that  food  supplies 
intended  for  a  certain  detachment  would 
reach  their  destination  only  after  the  de- 
parture of  that  detachment. 

My  platoon  had  by  this  time  shrunk 
from  fifty-five  men  to  about  thirty-four, 
but  those  remaining  had  become  very 
hardened,  efficient,  and  fit.  It  is  aston- 
ishing how  quickly  the  human  organism 

62 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

adjusts  itself,  if  need  be,  to  the  most 
difficult  circumstances.  So  far  as  I  was 
concerned,  for  instance,  I  adapted  my- 
self to  the  new  life  without  any  trouble  at 
all,  responding  to  the  unusual  demands 
upon  me  automatically,  as  it  were.  My 
rather  impaired  eyesight  improved  in 
the  open,  with  only  wide  distances  to 
look  at.  I  found  that  my  muscles  served 
me  better  than  ever  before.  I  leaped  and 
ran  and  supported  fatigue  that  would 
have  appalled  me  under  other  circum- 
stances. In  the  field  all  neurotic  symp- 
toms seem  to  disappear  as  by  magic, 
and  one's  whole  system  is  charged  with 
energy  and  vitahty.  Perhaps  this  is  due 
to  the  open-air  life  with  its  simpUfied 
standards,  freed  from  all  the  complex 
exigencies  of  society's  laws,  and  unham- 
pered by  conventionalities,  as  well  as  to 
the  constant  throb  of  excitement,  caused 
by  the  activity,  the  adventure,  and  the 
uncertainty  of  fate. 

6S 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

The  very  massing  together  of  so  many 
individuals,  with  every  will  merged  into 
one  that  strives  with  gigantic  effort  to- 
ward a  common  end,  and  the  consequent 
simplicity  and  directness  of  all  purpose, 
seem  to  release  and  unhinge  all  the  prim- 
itive, aboriginal  forces  stored  in  the  hu- 
man soul,  and  tend  to  create  the  inde- 
scribable atmosphere  of  exultation  which 
envelopes  everything  and  everybody  as 
with  a  magic  cloak. 

It  is  extraordinary  how  quickly  sug- 
gestions of  luxury,  culture,  refinement, 
in  fact  all  the  gentler  aspects  of  life, 
which  one  had  considered  to  be  an  in- 
tegral part  of  one's  life  are  quickly  for- 
gotten, and,  more  than  that,  not  even 
missed.  Centuries  drop  from  one,  and 
one  becomes  a  primeval  man,  nearing 
the  cave-dweller  in  an  incredibly  short 
time.  For  twenty-one  days  I  went  with- 
out taking  off  my  clothes,  sleeping  on 
wet  grass  or  in  mud,  or  in  the  swamps, 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

wherever  need  be,  and  with  nothing  but 
my  cape  to  cover  me.  Nothing  disturbs 
one.  One  night,  while  sleeping,  we  were 
drenched  to  the  skin  by  torrential  rains. 
We  never  stirred,  but  waited  for  the  sun 
to  dry  us  out  again.  All  things  consid- 
ered a  necessity  of  civilization  simply 
drop  out  of  existence.  A  toothbrush  was 
not  imaginable.  We  ate  instinctively, 
when  we  had  food,  with  our  hands.  If  we 
had  stopped  to  think  of  it  at  all,  we 
should  have  thought  it  ludicrous  to  use 
knife  and  fork. 

We  were  all  looking  like  shaggy,  lean 
wolves,  from  the  necessity  of  subsisting 
on  next  to  nothing.  I  remember  having 
gone  for  more  than  three  days  at  a  time 
without  any  food  whatsoever,  and  many 
a  time  we  had  to  lick  the  dew  from  the 
grass  for  want  of  water.  A  certain  fierce- 
ness arises  in  you,  an  absolute  indiffer- 
ence to  anything  the  world  holds  except 
your  duty  of  fighting.  You  are  eating  a 

65 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

crust  of  bread,  and  a  man  is  shot  dead  in 
the  trench  next  to  you.  You  look  calmly 
at  him  for  a  moment,  and  then  go  on  eat- 
ing your  bread.  Why  not?  There  is 
nothing  to  be  done.  In  the  end  you  talk 
of  your  own  death  with  as  little  excite- 
ment as  you  would  of  a  luncheon  engage- 
ment. There  is  nothing  left  in  your  mind 
but  the  fact  that  hordes  of  men  to  whom 
you  belong  are  fighting  against  other 
hordes,  and  your  side  must  win. 

My  memory  of  these  days  is  very 
much  blurred,  every  day  being  pretty 
nearly  the  same  as  the  preceding  one,  — 
fatiguing  marches,  little  rest  and  com- 
paratively little  fighting. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  our  com- 
mander tried  to  divide  the  work  of  the 
troops  in  a  just  manner,  and  that  in 
consequence  of  my  regiment  having 
borne  the  brunt  of  two  terrible  attacks, 
and  having  suffered  considerable  loss, 
we  were  now  temporarily  withdrawn 

66 


KUEISLER   AT  THE   PROMT,    TAKEN   AFTER 
THREE  weeks'   SERVICE 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

from  the  fighting  line,  and  not  once  dur- 
ing these  days  were  assigned  to  the  duty 
of  a  rear  guard.  Consequently  we  had 
only  few  and  unimportant  skirmishes 
in  these  days,  twice  while  guarding  the 
flank  through  having  to  repulse  attacks 
of  Cossacks,  and  once  being  harrassed 
by  an  armored  automobile.  But  the 
movements  of  an  automobile  being  con- 
fined to  the  road,  we  had  no  difficulty  in 
avoiding  its  fire,  and  as  for  the  Cossacks 
with  their  eternal  feigned  attacks,  we 
had  reached  the  point  where  we  almost 
ignored  them. 

We  were  in  the  first  days  of  Septem- 
ber, and  upon  reaching  the  swamps  near 
Grodeck,  south  of  Lemberg,  a  deter- 
mined stand  was  decided  upon  by  our 
commanding  general.  It  seemed  the 
most  propitious  place  for  a  formidable 
defense,  there  being  only  few  roads 
through  otherwise  impassable  swamps. 
On  September  sixth  my  battaUon  was 

67 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

ordered  to  take  up  a  position  command- 
ing a  defile  which  formed  one  of  the  pos- 
sible approaches  for  the  enemy.  Here 
we  awaited  the  Russians,  and  they  were 
not  long  in  coming.  First  they  violently 
shelled  our  position  and  silenced  one 
of  our  batteries.  Finding  their  artillery 
fire  did  not  draw  any  answer  from  our 
side,  they  attempted  to  storm  our  posi- 
tion by  means  of  frontal  infantry  at- 
tacks, combined  with  occasional  raids  of 
Cossacks,  which  were  always  repulsed. 
Finally  the  Russian  infantry  succeeded 
in  establishing  a  number  of  trenches,  the 
one  opposite  us  not  more  than  five  hun- 
dred yards  away.  It  was  the  first  time 
we  had  come  in  close  touch  with  the 
Russians,  almost  within  hailing  distance, 
and  with  the  aid  of  our  field  glasses 
we  could  occasionally  even  get  a  glimpse 
of  their  faces  and  recognize  their  features. 
We  stayed  four  days  opposite  each  other, 
neither  side  gaining  a  foot  of  ground. 

68 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

It  was  there  and  then  that  I  made  a 
curious  observation.  After  the  second 
day  we  had  almost  grown  to  know  each 
other.  The  Russians  would  laughingly 
call  over  to  us,  and  the  Austrians  would 
answer.  The  salient  feature  of  these 
three  days'  fighting  was  the  extraordi- 
nary lack  of  hatred.  In  fact,  it  is  aston- 
ishing how  little  actual  hatred  exists  be- 
tween fighting  men.  One  fights  fiercely 
and  passionately,  mass  against  mass,  but 
as  soon  as  the  mass  crystallizes  itself  into 
human  individuals  whose  features  one 
actually  can  recognize,  hatred  almost 
ceases.  Of  course,  fighting  continues, 
but  somehow  it  loses  its  fierceness  and 
takes  more  the  form  of  a  sport,  each  side 
being  eager  to  get  the  best  of  the  other. 
One  still  shoots  at  his  opponent,  but 
almost  regrets  when  he  sees  him  drop. 

By  the  morning  of  the  third  day  we 
knew  nearly  every  member  of  the  oppos- 
ing trench,  the  favorite  of  my  men  being 

69 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

a  giant  red-bearded  Russian  whose  con- 
stant pastime  consisted  in  jumping  like  a 
Jack-in-the-box  from  the  trench,  crying 
over  to  us  as  he  did  so.  He  was  fre- 
quently shot  at,  but  never  hit.  Then  he 
grew  bolder,  showing  himself  longer  and 
longer,  until  finally  he  jumped  out  of  the 
trench  altogether,  shouting  to  us  wildly 
and  waving  his  cap.  His  good-humored 
jollity  and  bravado  appealed  to  our  boys 
and  none  of  them  attempted  to  shoot 
at  him  while  he  presented  such  a  splen- 
did target.  Finally  one  of  our  men,  who 
did  not  want  to  be  second  in  bravery, 
jumped  out  of  the  trench  and  presented 
himself  in  the  full  sunlight.  Not  one  at- 
tempt was  made  to  shoot  at  him  either, 
and  these  two  men  began  to  gesticulate 
at  each  other,  inviting  each  other  to 
come  nearer.  All  fighting  had  suddenly 
ceased,  and  both  opposing  parties  were 
looking  on,  laughing  like  boys  at  play. 
Finally  the  Russian  would  draw  a  step 

70 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

nearer,  and  our  man  boldly  advanced 
too.  Then  the  Russians  urged  on  their 
man  with  shouts  and  laughter,  and  he 
made  a  big  leap  forward,  standing  still, 
whereupon  the  Austrian  also  jumped 
forward,  and  so,  step  by  step,  they  ap- 
proached until  they  nearly  touched  each 
other.  They  had  left  their  rifles  behind, 
and  we  thought  that  they  were  going  to 
indulge  in  a  fist  fight,  all  of  us  being 
sorry  for  our  champion,  for  he  was  a 
small  and  insignificant-looking  man  who 
looked  as  if  he  could  be  crushed  with  one 
blow  by  his  gigantic  opponent.  But  lo, 
and  behold!  The  big  Russian  held  out 
his  hand  which  held  a  package  of  to- 
bacco and  our  Austrian,  seizing  the  to- 
bacco, grasped  the  hand  of  the  Russian, 
and  then  reaching  in  his  pocket  pro- 
duced a  long  Austrian  cigar,  which  he 
ceremoniously  presented  to  the  Russian. 
It  was  indeed  a  funny  sight  to  see  the 
small,  wiry,  lean  Austrian  talking  in  exag- 

71 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

gerated  terms  of  politeness  to  the  blond 
Russian  giant,  who  listened  gravely  and 
attentively,  as  if  he  understood  every 
word. 

By  this  time  all  precautions  and  even 
ideas  of  fighting  had  been  forgotten,  and 
we  were  surprised  to  find  ourselves  out  of 
the  shelter  of  our  trenches  and  fully  ex- 
posed to  the  Russians,  who,  in  turn, 
leaned  out  of  their  own  trenche§  and 
showed  their  heads  in  full.  This  unoffi- 
cial truce  had  lasted  about  twenty  min- 
utes, and  succeeded  more  in  restoring 
good  humor  and  joy  of  Hfe  among  our 
soldiers  than  a  trainload  of  provisions 
would  have  done.  It  was  one  of  the  in- 
cidents that  helped  to  relieve  the  mo- 
notony of  trench  life  and  was  heartily 
welcomed  by  all  of  us.  The  fighting, 
however,  soon  was  resumed  with  all  its 
earnestness  and  fierceness,  but  from  this 
moment  on  a  certain  camaraderie  was 
established  between  the  two  opposing 

78 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

trenches.  Between  skirmishes  an  unoffi- 
cial truce  would  frequently  be  called  for 
the  purpose  of  removing  the  wounded. 
During  these  times  when  the  stretcher- 
bearers  were  busy,  no  shot  would  be 
fired  on  either  side. 

Nor  was  this  an  isolated  case,  for  sim- 
ilar intermittent  truces,  sometimes  ac- 
companied by  actual  intercourse  be- 
tween the  opposing  forces,  were  quite 
common  all  along  the  battle  line.  That 
very  night  I  was  hurriedly  summoned  to 
the  trenches  of  the  13th  Company,  about 
half  a  mile  east  of  us,  in  order  to  act  as 
an  interpreter  between  the  major  com- 
manding that  battalion  and  two  singu- 
lar guests  he  had  just  received,  a  Rus- 
sian officer  and  his  orderly.  The  pair, 
carrying  a  white  flag,  had  hailed  one  of 
the  numerous  Austrian  outposts  placed 
during  the  night,  in  front  of  the  trenches, 
and  had  been  sent  bhndfolded  back  to 
the  major.    The  Russian  officer  spoke 

73 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

only  broken  French.  He  commanded 
one  of  the  opposing  trenches,  and  from 
his  narrative  it  appeared  that  his  men 
had  not  received  any  food  supphes  for 
some  days  and  were  actually  on  the 
point  of  starvation.  Not  being  able  to 
stand  their  misery  any  longer,  he  had 
taken  the  bull  by  the  horns  and,  with  the 
utter  confidence  and  straightforwardness 
of  a  fearless  nature,  had  simply  come 
over  to  us,  the  enemy,  for  help,  offering 
a  little  barrel  of  water  which  his  com- 
panion carried  on  his  head  and  a  Httle 
tobacco,  in  exchange  for  some  provisions. 
The  major  seemed  at  first,  perhaps, 
a  little  perplexed  and  undecided  about 
this  singular  request,  but  his  generous 
nature  and  chivalry  soon  asserted  itself. 
One  single  look  at  the  emaciated  and 
worn  faces  of  our  guests  sufficiently 
substantiated  the  truth  of  their  story, 
for  both  men  were  utterly  exhausted 
and  on  the  verge  of  collapse.  The  next 

74 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

minute  messengers  were  flying  to  the 
different  trenches  of  the  battalion  to 
soHcit  and  collect  contributions,  and  the 
officers  scrambled  over  each  other  in 
their  noble  contest  to  deplete  their  own 
last  and  cherished  reserves  for  the  supper 
of  the  guests.  Soon  the  latter  were  seated 
as  comfortably  as  circumstances  permit- 
ted before  a  feast  of  canned  beef,  cheese, 
biscuits,  and  a  slice  of  salami,  my  own 
proud  contribution  consisting  of  two 
tablets  of  chocolate,  part  of  a  precious 
reserve  for  extreme  cases.  It  was  a 
strange  sight  to  see  these  two  Russians 
in  an  Austrian  trench,  surrounded  by 
cordiality  and  tender  solicitude.  The 
big  brotherhood  of  humanity  had  for  the 
time  enveloped  friend  and  foe,  stamping 
out  all  hatred  and  racial  differences.  It 
is  wonderful  how  the  most  tender  flowers 
of  civilization  can  go  hand  in  hand  with 
the  most  brutal  atrocities  of  grim  modern 
warfare. 

76 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

In  the  mean  while  the  messengers  had 
returned  almost  staggering  under  the 
weight  of  a  sack  filled  with  the  gifts  of 
our  soldiers  to  the  enemy,  —  pieces  of 
bread  and  biscuits  with  here  and  there 
a  slice  of  bacon  or  a  lump  of  cheese,  all 
thrown  pele-mele  together.  Many  a  man 
must  have  parted  with  his  last  piece  of 
bread  in  order  not  to  be  outdone  by  the 
others  in  generosity,  for  our  own  pro- 
visions were  running  very  low.  It  is  true 
that  the  bread  and  biscuits  were  mil- 
dewed, the  cheese  stale,  and  the  bacon  as 
hard  as  stone,  but  the  boys  gave  the  best 
they  could,  the  very  poverty  and  hum- 
bleness of  the  gifts  attesting  their  own 
desperate  plight,  and  bearing  proud  wit- 
ness to  the  extent  of  their  sacrifice.  With 
tears  in  their  eyes  and  reiterated  protesta- 
tions of  thanks,  our  guests  staggered  back 
through  the  night  to  their  lines,  undoubt- 
edly carrying  with  them  tender  memories 
of  Austrian  generosity  and  hospitality. 

76 


FOUR  WEEKS.  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

On  the  morning  of  the  next  day  a 
Russian  detachment  succeeded  in  storm- 
ing a  hill  on  our  flank,  commanding  the 
strip  of  space  between  ourselves  and  our 
reserves  in  the  rear,  thus  cutting  us  off 
from  our  main  body.  They  estabhshed 
there  a  machine-gun  battery,  and,  al- 
though we  were  under  cover  in  our 
trench,  we  were  now  in  a  very  precarious 
position,  for  no  more  provisions  or  am- 
munition could  reach  us,  all  attempts 
to  do  so  breaking  down  under  a  terrific 
machine-gun  fire,  but  we  had  orders  to 
hold  our  position  at  all  cost  and  to  the 
last  man.  Unfortunately  our  ammuni- 
tion was  giving  out,  in  spite  of  our  hus- 
banding it  as  much  as  possible  and  shoot- 
ing only  when  we  had  a  sure  target.  The 
Russians  soon  found  that  each  shot 
meant  a  victim  and  took  no  chances  on 
showing  even  the  tips  of  their  caps. 
Neither  could  we  move  the  least  bit 
without  being  the  target  for  a  volley 

77 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

from  their  side.  Up  to  this  day  I  cannot 
understand  why  they  did  not  try  to  rush 
us,  but  apparently  they  were  unaware 
of  our  comparative  weakness. 

Also  for  another  reason  our  position 
had  become  more  and  more  untenable. 
We  were  on  swampy  ground  and  the 
water  was  constantly  oozing  in  from  the 
bottom  of  the  trench,  so  that  we  some- 
times had  to  stand  nearly  knee-deep  and 
were  forced  to  bail  the  water  out  with 
our  caps.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  a 
more  deplorable  situation  than  to  have 
to  stay  for  four  days  in  a  foul  trench, 
half  filled  with  swamp  water,  con- 
stantly exposed  to  the  destructive  fire  of 
the  enemy,  utterly  isolated  and  hopeless. 

Soon  we  were  completely  without  any 
food  or  water  and  our  ammunition  was 
almost  exhausted.  During  the  night, 
here  and  there  daring  men  would  rush 
through  the  space  swept  by  the  Russian 
gun  fire,  which  was  kept  up  constantly, 

78 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

trying  to  bring  us  what  scanty  supplies 
they  could  procure  from  neighboring 
trenches  better  provided  than  we  were, 
but  the  little  they  brought  was  nothing 
compared  to  our  needs. 

On  the  evening  of  that  third  day, 
knowing  that  our  ammunition  was  giv- 
ing out,  we  felt  that  the  next  day  would 
bring  the  end,  and  all  our  thoughts 
turned  homewards  and  to  the  dear  ones. 
We  all  wrote  what  we  considered  our 
parting  and  last  farewell,  each  one  pledg- 
ing himself  to  deliver  and  take  care  of 
the  letters  of  the  others  if  he  survived.  It 
was  a  grave,  sad,  deeply  touching  mo- 
ment, when  we  resigned  ourselves  to  the 
inevitable,  and  yet  somehow  we  all  felt 
relieved  and  satisfied  that  the  end  might 
come  and  grimly  resolved  to  sell  our 
lives  dearly. 

Never  before  had  I  as  much  reason  to 
admire  the  wonderful  power  of  endur- 
ance and  stoicism  of  our  soldiers  as  on 

79 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

that  night.  Once  resigned  to  the  worst, 
all  the  old-time  spirit  returned,  as  if  by 
magic.  They  sat  together  playing  cards 
in  as  much  moonlight  as  would  fall  into 
the  deep  trench,  relating  jokes  and  bol- 
stering up  one  another's  courage. 

The  fourth  day  broke  gloomy,  with  a 
drizzling  rain.  At  ten  o'clock  one  of  our 
men  became  suddenly  insane,  jumped 
out  of  the  trench,  danced  wildly  and 
divested  himself  of  every  stitch  of  cloth- 
ing while  doing  so.  Strange  to  say,  the 
Russians  must  have  realized  that  the 
man  was  insane,  for  they  never  fired  at 
him,  neither  did  they  at  the  two  men 
who  jumped  out  to  draw  him  back.  We 
succeeded  in  comforting  and  subduing 
him,  and  he  soon  fell  into  a  stupor  and 
remained  motionless  for  some  time.  As 
soon  as  darkness  fell  we  succeeded  in  con- 
veying him  back  to  the  reserves  and  I 
understand  that  he  got  quite  well  again 
in  a  few  days. 

80 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

At  five  o'clock  that  afternoon  we  sud- 
denly received  orders  through  a  running 
messenger,  who  was  braving  the  inces- 
sant machine-gun  fire,  that  our  posi- 
tions were  about  to  be  abandoned  and 
that  we  were  to  evacuate  our  trench 
under  the  cover  of  darkness,  at  eleven 
o'clock.  I  cannot  but  confess  that  we  all 
breathed  more  freely  on  the  receipt  of 
that  information,  but  unfortunately  the 
purpose  could  not  be  carried  out.  The 
Russians  by  this  time  evidently  had 
realized  our  comparatively  defenseless 
condition  and  utter  lack  of  ammunition, 
for  that  same  night  we  heard  two  shots 
ring  out,  being  a  signal  from  our  sentinels 
that  they  were  surprised  and  that  danger 
was  near.  I  hardly  had  time  to  draw  my 
sword,  to  grasp  my  revolver  with  my 
left  hand  and  issue  a  command  to  my 
men  to  hold  their  bayonets  in  readiness, 
when  we  heard  a  tramping  of  horses  and 
saw  dark  figures  swooping  down  upon 

81 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

us.  For  once  the  Cossacks  actually 
carried  out  their  attack,  undoubtedly 
owing  to  their  intimate  knowledge  of  our 
lack  of  anununition.  My  next  sensation 
was  a  crushing  pain  in  my  shoulder, 
struck  by  the  hoof  of  a  horse,  and  a 
sharp  knife  pain  in  my  right  thigh.  I 
fired  with  my  revolver  at  the  hazy  figure 
above  me,  saw  it  topple  over  and  then 
lost  consciousness. 

This  happened,  to  the  best  of  my  recol- 
lection, at  about  half  past  ten  at  night. 
Upon  coming  to  my  senses  I  found  my 
faithful  orderly,  kneeling  in  the  trench 
by  my  side.  He  fairly  shouted  with  de- 
light as  I  opened  my  eyes.  According  to 
his  story  the  Austrians,  falUng  back  un- 
der the  cavalry  charge,  had  evacuated 
the  trench  without  noticing,  in  the  dark- 
ness, that  I  was  missing.  But  soon  dis- 
covering my  absence  he  started  back  to 
the  trench  in  search  of  me.  It  was  a  peri- 
lous undertaking  for  him,  for  the  Cos- 

82 


FRITZ    KREISLER 


FOUR  WEEKS  IN  THE  TRENCHES 

sacks  were  still  riding  about,  and  he 
showed  me  with  pride  the  place  where  a 
stray  bullet  had  perforated  his  knapsack 
during  the  search.  He  revived  me,  gave 
me  first  aid,  and  succeeded  with  great 
difficulty  in  helping  me  out  of  the  trench. 
For  more  than  three  hours  we  stumbled 
on  in  the  night,  trying  to  find  our  hues 
again.  Twice  we  encountered  a  small 
troop  of  Cossacks,  but  upon  hearing  the 
tramping  we  quietly  lay  down  on  the 
wayside  without  a  motion  until  they  had 
passed.  Happily  we  were  not  noticed  by 
them,  and  from  then  we  stumbled  on 
without  any  further  incident  until  we 
were  hailed  by  an  Austrian  outpost  and 
in  safety.  By  this  time  I  was  utterly 
exhausted  and  again  lost  consciousness. 
When  I  opened  my  eyes,  I  was  in  a 
little  hut  where  our  ambulance  gave  first 
aid.  Therefrom  I  was  transported  to  the 
nearest  field  hospital.  This,  however,  had 
to  be  broken  up  and  the  wounded  re- 

88 


FOUR  WEEKS   IN  THE  TRENCHES 

moved  because  of  the  Russian  advance. 
We  were  hastily  put  on  big  ambulance 
wagons  without  springs,  the  jolting  of 
which  over  the  bad  road  caused  us  such 
suffering  that  we  should  have  almost 
preferred  to  walk  or  crawl.  We  tried  to 
reach  the  railway  station  at  Komarno 
but  found  a  Russian  detachment  had  in- 
tercepted us.  In  the  streets  of  the  village 
a  shell  burst  almost  in  front  of  our  wag- 
ons, making  the.horses  shy  and  causing  a 
great  deal  of  confusion.  We  had  to  turn 
back  and  after  a  long  and  wearisome  de- 
tour reached  our  destination,  the  troop 
hospital  in  Sambor,  in  a  state  of  great 
exhaustion.  There  I  remained  but  a  day. 
The  less  seriously  wounded  had  to  make 
place  for  the  graver  cases,  and  being 
among  the  former,  I  was  transferred  by 
hospital  train  to  Miscolcy  in  Hungary. 
The  same  crowded  conditions  prevailed 
here  as  in  Sambor,  and  after  a  night's 
rest  I  again  was  put  on  board  a  Red 

84 


FOUR  WEEKS   IN  THE  TRENCHES 

Cross  train  en  route  to  Vienna.  We  were 
met  at  the  station  by  a  number  of  Red 
Cross  nurses  and  assistant  doctors. 

To  my  great  joy  my  wife  was  among 
the  former,  having  been  assigned  to  that 
particular  duty.  A  short  official  telegram 
to  the  effect  that  I  was  being  sent  home 
wounded  on  hospital  train  Number  16 
was  the  first  news  she  had  received  about 
me  for  fully  four  weeks.  None  of  my 
field  postcards  had  arrived  and  she  was 
suffering  extreme  nervous  strain  from  the 
long  anxiety  and  suspense,  which  she 
had  tried  in  vain  to  numb  by  feverish 
work  in  her  hospital.  I  remained  two 
weeks  in  Vienna  and  then  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  sulphur  bath  of  Baden 
near-by,  where  large  hospitals  had  been 
established  to  reheve  the  overcrowding 
of  Vienna.  There  I  remained  until  the 
first  of  November  when  I  was  ordered  to 
appear  before  a  mixed  commission  of 
army  surgeons  and  senior  officers,  for  a 

85 


FOUR  WEEKS   IN  THE   TRENCHES 

medical  examination.  Two  weeks  later 
I  received  formal  intimation  that  I  had 
been  pronounced  invalid  and  physically 
unfit  for  army  duty  at  the  front  or  at 
home,  and  consequently  was  exempted 
from  further  service.  My  military  exper- 
ience ended  there,  and  with  deep  regret  I 
bade  good-bye  to  my  loyal  brother  offi- 
cers, comrades,  and  faithful  orderly,  and 
discarded  my  well-beloved  uniform  for 
the  nondescript  garb  of  the  civilian, 
grateful  that  I  had  been  permitted  to  be 
of  any,  if  ever  so  little,  service  to  my 
Fatherland. 


THE  END 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U    .    S    .   A 


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